Uffizi, Italy
Posted On November 27, 2009
Among all the museums of the western world, the Uffizi Gallery holds the pride of being the most famous art museum. It is also one of the oldest museums in the world. It is located in Palazzo degli Uffizi a palace in Florence city of Italy.
The construction of the building started in the year 1560 under the supervision of Giorgio Vasari. The palace was originally designed for Cosimo I de Medici as the office for the various Florentine magistrates. Thus the palace is named Uffizi which means office. The Palazza degli Uffizi brought together the State achieve as well as the administrative offices and the tribunal under one single room.
The construction of the palace was completed by the end of the year 1581 and after Vasari it was been supervised by Bernardo Buontalenti and Alfonso Parigi. The internal courtyard was very long but was quite narrow it had an opening at a far end to the Arno River.
Vasari was a well known architect as well as a world famous painter. He highlighted the long narrow courtyard with the help of the matching facades as well as continuous roof cornices. The various columns in the palace were filled with the various paintings and sculptures of the various artists of the 19th century.
Over various passing years’ different sections of the palace was opened and was added to the display in the museum. There is a huge display of the collection of Sculptures as well as the paintings which were mostly collected by the Medici family or even commissioned by them. Michelangelo as well as Leonardo da Vinci with many other artists gathered at the Uffizi in 1550 and 1568.
Uffizi was one of the most modern museums. In the sixteenth century the museum was opened to the visitors only by previous request. Later in the year 1765 the museum was officially opened for the public to visit.
The collection of the museum had increased a lot thus later some of the work was been transferred to the various other museums in Florence. To state few examples the famous statues of the museums were transferred t o the Bargello. There is a project that has been planned to expand the museum.
A car bomb exploded near the museum in year 1993 which severely damaged many parts of the museum also five people were killed in this attack. The neo-classical interior, the classical sculptures as well as the Niobe room was severely damaged in the attack but was later restored.
Today Uffizi is one of the most famous tourist destinations in the city of Florence. There is always a huge crowd at the museum hence you are advised to reserve a ticket else you mite require to stand in a queue for minimum five hours.
The nearest airport to the museum is the Regional Florence airport from where you can use train, bus or car to reach Uffizi. If you are using the train option you are required to get down at Santa Maria Novella station you can precede further by bus or foot. If you are walking down the road you will require approximately 20 minutes from the Santa Maria Novella station to reach Uffizi.
